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STANFORD, Calif. – Two months into the 2014 men’s volleyball season most people had already written off the Cardinal after a 6-7 start to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play. Little did they know, Stanford would turn a corner come March and make a historic run ending in the program’s fifth appearance in the NCAA title match.

After the rocky start, which included a 0-5 mark in five-set matches, the Cardinal closed out the season with a 15-2 record containing four wins in matches which went the distance. During that stretch, Stanford reeled off 13 consecutive victories from March 1 to April 26, posting the second-longest winning streak in program history.

Stanford’s run to the national title match had its ups and downs. The Cardinal recorded a thrilling come-from-behind five-set win over UC Irvine in the MPSF quarterfinals at Maples Pavilion on April 19. After dominating Pepperdine in the MPSF semifinals, the team was then swept by top-seeded BYU, its third loss of the season to the Cougars, in the MPSF tournament final.

Just five days later in Chicago, the Cardinal found itself down 2-1 in the NCAA semifinals to BYU. With their season and careers on the line, seniors Brian Cook, Steven Irvin and Eric Mochalski rallied the team to an exhilarating comeback. The fourth time was the charm for the Cardinal, which knocked-off BYU when it mattered the most.

Despite falling to host Loyola-Chicago in the NCAA finals, the Cardinal (24-9, 17-7 MPSF) can look back on the 2014 campaign with its heads held high. The team registered the 11th 20-win season in school history and the fourth under eighth-year head coach John Kosty. Stanford produced three first team All-MPSF members for the first time in program history and had six players earn a combined nine All-America honors from both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine. For the first time in school history, Stanford has had at least three All-America selections for five consecutive seasons.

Cook, who earned first team honors from both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine, became the 10th player in program history to earn multiple first team accolades during their career. Irvin was a second team pick by the AVCA, while Mochalski garnered third team honors from Volleyball Magazine. The senior class, including Denny Falls and Scott Sakaida, put together a four-year record of 80-38.

Sophomores James Shaw and Conrad Kaminski were recognized by both organizations. Shaw collected second team honors from the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine, while Kaminski was a second team pick by Volleyball Magazine and an AVCA honorable mention selection. Redshirt junior libero Grant Delgado was a third team honoree by Volleyball Magazine.

The Cardinal also excelled in the classroom this season. Junior Matt Aiello received the NCAA's Elite 89 Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA at each championship site. Nine other players were named to the MPSF All-Academic Team, the most of any school in the conference. Being recognized were for having a minimum 3.00 GPA were Cook, Delgado, Irvin, Kaminski, Shaw, Spencer Haly, Madison Hayden, Scott Sakaida and Daniel Tublin.

While the Cardinal loses three starters to graduation next season, the experience and improvement of the returning players will be key going into 2015.

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The following are accomplishments and honors from the 2014 season:

Team-Ranked No. 2 by the AVCA in final rankings-Ranked No. 2 by Volleyball Magazine in final rankings-Seventh consecutive final Top 10 ranking-Seventh consecutive winning season-Seventh consecutive postseason appearance-Seventh consecutive finish in the top half of the conference regular season-Sixth consecutive season with an AVCA first-team All-American-Had three or more All-Americans in the same season for a school record fifth straight year-Produced four All-Americans in the same season for the fifth time in program history-Reached the 20-win plateau for the 11th time in school history-Produced three first team All-MPSF players for the first time in program history-Ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation on Jan. 13-Fifth consecutive season Stanford has been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 at any point during the season-Led the MPSF in hitting percentage (.334), ranked second in kills (13.54) and assists (12.86) and third in aces (1.34) and digs (9.79)-Ranked in the Top 10 in the nation in hitting percentage (.334, 2nd), assists (12.86, 3rd), kills (13.54, 4th), digs (9.79, 6th) and aces (1.34, 10th)-Made ninth appearance in NCAA Tournament, and remained undefeated in NCAA semifinal matches (5-0)-168 team season aces breaks the previous rally-scoring era record by 20 (2010- 148)-Team’s opponent hitting percentage for the season was .241, .015 points lower than the previous record of .256 set in 2008-Team’s 13-match winning streak was the second longest in program history-Stanford only allowed Cal Baptist to score 42 total points on April 4, breaking the old school record in the rally-scoring era by 5-Stanford’s 14 aces against Lewis (1/10) set the school record in the rally-scoring era

Brian Cook AVCA First-Team All-AmericanVolleyball Magazine First Team All-American All-MPSF First Team NCAA All-Tournament Team MPSF All-Tournament Team Seventh in the MPSF & 13th in the NCAA in kills per set (3.81) Eighth in the MPSF & 17th in the NCAA in points per set (4.30) No. 3 in career kills in the rally-scoring era (1439), and eighth overall No. 5 in career kills per set in the rally-scoring era (3.48) No. 10 in career hitting percentage in the rally-scoring era (.309) No. 10 in career service aces in the rally-scoring era (58) No. 7 in career digs in the rally-scoring era (592) No. 10 in career digs per set in the rally-scoring era (1.43) No. 5 in career blocks in the rally-scoring era (276) No. 10 (tied) in career blocks per set in the rally-scoring era (0.66) No. 4 in career sets played in the rally-scoring era (414) No. 5 in single season kills in the rally-scoring era (476) No. 9 in single season digs in the rally-scoring era (208)

Grant DelgadoVolleyball Magazine Third-Team All-American All-MPSF Honorable Mention Fourth in the MPSF and ninth in the NCAA in digs per set (2.51) No. 11 in career digs in the rally-scoring era (427) No. 3 in digs per set in the rally-scoring era (2.12) No. 5 in single season digs in the rally-scoring era (281) No. 5 in single season digs per set in the rally-scoring era (2.51) His career high 19 digs against BYU (5/1) in the NCAA semifinals tied for the 10th most in a match in the rally-scoring era, and were the fifth-most in a five set match in the rally-scoring era.

Steven Irvin AVCA Second-Team All-American All-MPSF First Team Ninth in the MPSF in aces per set (0.28) 14th in the MPSF in digs per set (1.85) 15th in the MPSF in kills per set (3.23) & points per set (3.76) No. 5 in career kills in the rally-scoring era (1144) No. 7 in career kills per set in the rally-scoring era (3.05) No. 6 in career aces in the rally-scoring era (88) No. 6 in career digs in the rally-scoring era (604) No. 8 (tied) in career digs per set in the rally-scoring era (1.61) No. 8 in career sets played in the rally-scoring era (375) No. 4 (tied) in single season aces in the rally-scoring era (35) No. 10 (tied) in single season aces per set in the rally-scoring era (0.28) No. 8 in single season digs in the rally-scoring era (231)

Conrad Kaminski AVCA Honorable Mention All-AmericanVolleyball Magazine Second-Team All-American All-MPSF Second Team Was the only MPSF player to hit over .500 on the season (.505) 12th in the MPSF and 20th in the NCAA in blocks per set (1.05) No. 1 in single season hitting percentage (min. 100 att.) in the rally-scoring era (.505), and ties for third overall in school history (just the fourth player in school history to hit over .500 in a single season) No. 2 in single season blocks in the rally-scoring era (124) No. 7 (tied) in single season blocks per set in the rally-scoring era (1.05) Tallied a team-best eight blocks in a match on four occasions Tied the single match hitting percentage record in the rally-scoring era against Long Beach State (2/28) – 10-0-12 (.833)

Eric MochalskiVolleyball Magazine Third-Team All-American All-MPSF Second Team AVCA National Player of the Week (2/11) MPSF Player of the Week (2/24) Ninth in the MPSF in aces per set (0.28) No. 9 in career kills in the rally-scoring era (849) No. 6 in career hitting percentage in the rally-scoring era (.378) No. 4 in career aces in the rally-scoring era (100) No. 3 in career blocks in the rally-scoring era (326) No. 8 in career blocks per set in the rally-scoring era (0.75) No. 3 in career sets played in the rally-scoring era (435) No. 6 in single season aces in the rally-scoring era (34) No. 10 (tied) in single season aces per set in the rally-scoring era (0.28)

James Shaw AVCA Second-Team All-AmericanVolleyball Magazine Second Team-All-American All-MPSF First Team NCAA All-Tournament TeamMPSF All-Tournament Team MPSF Player of the Week (3/10) AVCA National Player of the Week (3/11) Fourth in the MPSF and ninth in the NCAA in assists per set (10.86) 15th in the MPSF in aces per set (0.26) No. 4 in career assists in the rally-scoring era (2385) No. 4 in career assists per set in the rally-scoring era (10.70) No. 7 in single season aces in the rally-scoring era (33) No. 3 in single season assists in the rally-scoring era (1358) No. 10 in single season assists per set in the rally-scoring era (10.86)

Head Coach John Kosty MPSF Coach of the Year (2nd time in his career)Volleyball Magazine Second-Team All-America Coach